5 real-life uses for the Jedi mind trick

When the first Star Wars movie, Episode IV - A New Hope, hit cinema screens in 1977 audiences were blown away by the space opera’s visual effects and the rich, vibrant universe.

One of the most iconic early scenes in the movie sees Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi getting our heroes past two Galactic Empire Stormtroopers using what became known as ‘the Jedi mind trick’.

As the group are quized at a roadblock on the two fugitive droids in the back of their land speeder, Kenobi waves his fingers enigmatically and plants the suggestion that “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for” into the minds of the armed soldiers.

Movie audiences realised, with this first glimpse of ‘the Force’ in action, that there’s more to this Star Wars thing than blasters and spaceships and the Jedi mind trick was established as a cultural touchstone that’s still with us today.

The release of the new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has got us thinking about five real-life situations where we’d all use the Jedi mind trick if we could…